The snowy owl ("Harfang") is the avian emblem of quebec so that could be a good replacement for a Colonel. Below is a wine label using itHere’s a question: assuming a Republic of Quebec were to adopt rank insignia based on that of the US Army (Presumably with the fleur-de-lys replacing the US oak leaves) then what properly Quebecois symbol should replace the eponymous ‘bird colonel’ eagle?
The beaver occurs to me, but I’m not sure that has quite the right martial character.
For the municipal police departments, the system goes:Decisions, decisions, n'est pas?
I'll certainly have to look up rank insignia for Quebec police for some Real Life precedents: thank you most kindly for your advice and for suggesting this line of enquiry!
FYI, it's "n'est-ce pas" if you meant to say "Isn't it?". If you said "n'est pas", it would translate as "Is not".Decisions, decisions, n'est pas?![]()
You don't need to apologize, This was just a "for your information" advice as I assumed you weren't fluent in french and might benefit from a little constructive criticism. If you used google translate or a blingual dictionary, I would advise against it as these often try to translate literally rather than find equivalents in the other language.Pardonnez moi, Monsieur Pasquin - je me parle un peu de Francais, mais je ne pas parle le bon Francais!
More to the point, I can speak a little French but my written French is so sub-par it would shot on sight at any golf course across the planet (If only to put the poor, twisted creature out of it's misery!).
(Soviet backed) East Germany had a Rain Pattern camo which was meant to be a 2-tone generic camo pattern. It was used in East Germany but also in a number of African countries.Anyone has any picture of a hypothetical Soviet military version of urban grey camouflage ?
Real world English term | Kymrese (real world Welsh) | Minority language 1 (real world German) | Minority language 2 (real world Hungarian) | Minority language 3 (real world Slovak) | Minority language 4 (real world Czech) | Minority language 5 (real world Croatian) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Private | Milwr | Soldat | Közkatona | Vojak | Vojín | Vojnik |
Private First Class | Milwr Dosbarth Cyntaf | Gefreiter | Őrvezető | Vojak vyššej hodnosti | Vojín vyšší hodnosti | Pozornik |
Non-commissioned officers | ||||||
Lance Corporal | Is-Corporal | Korporal | Tizedes | Slobodník | Slobodník | Skupnik |
Corporal | Corporal | Zugsführer | Szakaszvezető | Desiatnik | Desítník | Desetnik |
Sergeant | Rhingyll | Wachtmeister | Őrmester | Čatár | Četař | Narednik |
Master-Sergeant | Rhingyll Staff | Stabswachtmeister | Törzsőrmester | Rotný | Rotný | Nadnarednik |
Officers in training | ||||||
Cadet | Cadet | Kadett | Kadet | Kadet | Kadet | Kadet |
Ensign | Bannerwr | Fähnrich | Zászlós | Práporčík | Praporčík | Zastavnik |
Commissioned Officers | ||||||
Lieutenant | Lifftenant | Leutnant | Hadnagy | Poručík | Poručík | Poručnik |
First Lieutenant | Lifftenant Uchel | Oberleutnant | Főhadnagy | Nadporučík | Nadporučík | Nadporučnik |
Captain | Capten | Hauptmann (land) / Rittmeister (cavalry) / Kapitän (sea) | Százados (land) / Kapitány (sea) | Kapitán (archaically Stotník in the land army) | Kapitán (archaically Stotník in the land army) | Satnik (land) / Kapetan (sea) |
Major | Huwch-Gapten | Major | Őrnagy | Major | Major | Bojnik |
Lieutenant Colonel | Raglaw Gyrnol | Oberstleutnant | Alezredes | Podplukovník | Podplukovník | Potpukovnik |
Colonel | Cyrnol | Oberst | Ezredes | Plukovník | Plukovník | Pukovnik |
Generals | ||||||
Brigadier general | Brigadydd Gadfridog | Brigadegeneral | Dandártábornok | Brigádny generál | Brigádní generál | Brigadni general |
Major General | Prif Gadfridog | Generalmajor | Vezérőrnagy | Generálmajor | Generálmajor | General bojnik |
Lieutenant General | Is-Gadfridog | Generalleutnant | Altábornagy | Generálporučík | Generálporučík | General poručnik |
General | Cadfridog | General | Vezérezredes | Generálplukovník / Generál | Generálplukovník / Generál | General pukovnik |
Royal General | Cadfridog Brenhinol | Königlicher General | Tábornagy / Királyi tábornagy | Kráľovský generál | Královský generál | Kraljevski general |
Aeroverse - Kymrian military rank insignia
The rank insignia for the armed forces of the Kingdom of Kymria. A monarchy geographically, culturally and historically inspired by Austria-Hungary and Wales, from my fictional setting, the Aeroverse. The Kymrian military consists of the Royal Army of Kymria (Byddin Frenhinol o Kymra), the Royal Navy of Kymria (Llynges Brenhinol o Kymra), which includes the Royal Naval Aviation of Kymria, and the Royal Flying Host of Kymria (Llu Hedfan Brenhinol o Kymra). Like other countries in the Aeroverse, the Kymrian military is at a roughly 1910 to 1920 level of technology.
Real world English term Kymrese
(real world Welsh)Minority language 1
(real world German)Minority language 2
(real world Hungarian)Minority language 3
(real world Slovak)Minority language 4
(real world Czech)Minority language 5
(real world Croatian)Private Milwr Soldat Közkatona Vojak Vojín Vojnik Private First Class Milwr rhydd Gefreiter Őrvezető Vojak vyššej hodnosti Vojín vyšší hodnosti Pozornik Non-commissioned officers Lance Corporal Is-Corporal Korporal Tizedes Slobodník Slobodník Skupnik Corporal Corporal Zugsführer Szakaszvezető Desiatnik Desítník Desetnik Sergeant Rhingyll Wachtmeister Őrmester Čatár Četař Narednik Master-Sergeant Rhingyll Staff Stabswachtmeister Törzsőrmester Rotný Rotný Nadnarednik Officers in training Cadet Cadet Kadett Kadet Kadet Kadet Kadet Ensign Bannerwr Fähnrich Zászlós Práporčík Praporčík Zastavnik Commissioned Officers Lieutenant Lifftenant Leutnant Hadnagy Poručík Poručík Poručnik First Lieutenant Lifftenant Uchel Oberleutnant Főhadnagy Nadporučík Nadporučík Nadporučnik Captain Capten Hauptmann (land) /
Rittmeister (cavalry) / Kapitän (sea)Százados (land) /
Kapitány (sea)Kapitán
(archaically Stotník
in the land army)Kapitán
(archaically Stotník
in the land army)Satnik (land) /
Kapetan (sea)Major Huwch-Gapten Major Őrnagy Major Major Bojnik Lieutenant Colonel Raglaw gyrnol Oberstleutnant Alezredes Podplukovník Podplukovník Potpukovnik Colonel Cyrnol Oberst Ezredes Plukovník Plukovník Pukovnik Generals Brigadier general Brigadydd Gadfridog Brigadegeneral Dandártábornok Brigádny generál Brigádní generál Brigadni general Major General Prif Gadfridog Generalmajor Vezérőrnagy Generálmajor Generálmajor General bojnik Lieutenant General Is-gadfridog Generalleutnant Altábornagy Generálporučík Generálporučík General poručnik General Cadfridog General Vezérezredes Generálplukovník / Generál Generálplukovník / Generál General pukovnik Royal General Cadfridog Brenhinol Königlicher General Tábornagy /
Királyi tábornagyKráľovský generál Královský generál Kraljevski general
a.) Languages used in the Kymrian military
Kymrese (the Kymrian language) is the main communication language of the royal Kymrian armed forces. There is also a fictional equivalent to the real world "Army Slavic", something of an impromptu constructed language, used as a sort of soldier creole or soldier jargon for basic communication.
b.) Specifying full ranks in the Kymrian military (only for bureaucratic use, not everyday use or field use)
The Kymrian approach to specifying ranks is to hyphenate them in the individual languages. The lowest rank, soldier, as an example:
- Kymrese: Milwr-Troedfilwyr ("Soldier-Infantryman"), Milwr-Coediwr ("Soldier-Woodsman", older version Milwr-Ysgarmeswr, "Soldier-Skirmisher"), Milwr-Dragŵn, Milwr-Dragwner ("Soldier-Dragoon"), Milwr-Gwaywr ("Soldier-Lancer"), Milwr-Hwsâr ("Soldier-Hussar"), Milwr-Magnelwr ("Soldier-Artilleryman"), Milwr-Cloddiwr ("Soldier-Engineer"/"Soldier-Sapper"), Milwr-Gyrrwr ("Soldier-Driver"), Milwr-Trehnmann ("Soldier-Supply-trainist"), Milwr-Medygg ("Soldier-Medic")
- Minority language 1: Soldat-Infanterist ("Soldier-Infantryman"), Soldat-Jäger ("Soldier-Skirmisher"), Soldat-Dragoner ("Soldier-Dragoon"), Soldat-Ulan ("Soldier-Lancer"), Soldat-Husar ("Soldier-Hussar"), Soldat-Kanonier ("Soldier-Artilleryman"), Soldat-Pionir ("Soldier-Engineer"/"Soldier-Pioneer/Sapper"), Soldat-Fahrer ("Soldier-Driver"), Soldat-Trehnmann ("Soldier-Supply-trainist"), Soldat-Sanitäter ("Soldier-Medic")
- Minority language 2: Közkatona-Gyalogos ("Soldier-Infantryman"), Közkatona-Vadász ("Soldier-Hunter"), Közkatona-Dragonyos ("Soldier-Dragoon"), Közkatona-Ulánus ("Soldier-Lancer"), Közkatona-Huszár ("Soldier-Hussar"), Közkatona-Tüzér ("Soldier-Artilleryman"), Közkatona-Árkász ("Soldier-Engineer"/"Soldier-Sapper"), Közkatona-Vezető ("Soldier-Driver"), Közkatona-Trénos ("Soldier-Supply-trainist"), Közkatona-Medikus ("Soldier-Medic")
- Minority language 3: Vojak-Pešiak ("Soldier-Infantryman"), Vojak-Zálesák ("Soldier-Woodsman"), Vojak-Dragún ("Soldier-Dragoon"), Vojak-Ulán ("Soldier-Lancer"), Vojak-Husár ("Soldier-Hussar"), Vojak-Delostrelec ("Soldier-Artilleryman"), Vojak-Ženista ("Soldier-Engineer"/"Soldier-Sapper"), Vojak-Vodič ("Soldier-Driver"), Vojak-Trénnik ("Soldier-Supply-trainist"), Vojak-Zdravotník ("Soldier-Medic")
- Minority language 4: Vojín-Pěšák ("Soldier-Infantryman"), Vojín-Zálesák ("Soldier-Woodsman"), Vojín-Dragoun ("Soldier-Dragoon"), Vojín-Hulán ("Soldier-Lancer"), Vojín-Husar ("Soldier-Hussar"), Vojín-Dělostrelec ("Soldier-Artilleryman"), Vojín-Ženista ("Soldier-Engineer"/"Soldier-Sapper"), Vojín-Vodič ("Soldier-Driver"), Vojín-Trénník ("Soldier-Supply-trainist"), Vojín-Zdravotník ("Soldier-Medic")
This makes it easier to denote which soldier is in which branch of the armed forces, without having to remember a unique rank name for every branch of the forces. The three cavalry soldier branches are also called collectivelly Marchogwr ("cavalryman", "horseman") and can sometimes be given with that variation in the first half of the hyphenated term (e.g. Marchogwr-Dragŵn, Marchogwr-Gwaywr, Marchogwr-Hwsâr). The minority languages can substitute this with their own terms Reiter, Lovas and Jazdec. The only cavalry variation on the rank of Captain in a minority language occurs with Rittmeister.
Historical examples of occassional Kymrian use of rank hyphenation
In the past of the Kymrian royal army (ca a century and more earlier), what became the Milwr-Troedfilwyr was originally two different ranks, depending on whether the footman was a Musketeer or a Rifleman, he was likely to get called a Milwr-Mysgedwr or a Milwr-Reifflwr, respectivelly. Some of the royal riflemen, trained as sharpshooters (including with the innovative repeating "wind-rifle" of the Kymrians, updated versions still popular among sky pirates) were called Milwr-Coediwr ("Soldier-Woodsman"), later changed to Milwr-Ysgarmeswr ("Soldier-Skirmisher"), but then reverted back to Milwr-Coediwr ("Soldier-Woodsman").
c.) Other rank terminology naming conventions in the Kymrian military and related notes
The equivalent to a real world Marshal rank in the Kymrian military is the Royal General, the head general of the entire Royal Army. The only official usage of the term "marshal" in the Kymrian military are the "sky marshals" of the Royal Flying Host. The Royal Navy has the most divergent terminology for its individual ranks (most soldier and NCO ranks, most of the highest ranks), whereas the individual ranks in the Royal Army and the Royal Flying Host are fairly similar to each other (the biggest difference being the lowest soldier rank and the highest ranks, the latter replacing "general" ranks with "sky marshal" ranks).
Do note that Kymria itself does not actually use real world English terminology, whether UK, US, Canadian, Australian or any other anglophone country designations for the individual ranks. Kymria does not speak English at all, save for people who know foreign languages. Their most used names for the individual ranks are in what appears to us as real world Welsh.
d.) Heraldic weapons, heraldic animals or mythical creatures and colour-coding in Kingdom of Kymria rank insignia
The rank insignia of the Royal Armed Forces of Kymria uses a simple, but fairly deep system of "heraldic-coding" and colour-coding that's designed to be as intuitive and easy to remember as possible, and make it impossible to unintentionally confuse ranks, even by a layperson. Famously, the insignia is designed to work completely without any letters or numbers as indicators, and work according to a logic similar to that used in the "keep it simple" logic of designing coats of arms and other heraldry.
As in the real world, the lowest-ranking soldiers, i.e. privates/seamen/aviators/pilots, do not have their own rank insignia. From the second soldier level onward, regardless of service, they get a set of rank insignia that gradually increases in importance, varying its overall level based on alternating "trios" of symbols.
Heraldic weapons (soldier-officer rank scale) - located in the upper part of the rank insignia, a heraldic depiction of a historical weapon. The lowest three ranks have polearms as their insignia (glaives for Royal Army and Royal Flying Host personnel, halberds for Royal Bodyguards, boarding pikes for Royal Navy personnel), the three continued NCO ranks after that have archery weapons (a bow and arrow for Royal Army and Flying Host personnel, a crossbow for Royal Navy personnel), the Ensign equivalent has an impact weapon or propeller and an animal or dragon body part other than a paw or foot (one-handed battleaxe for army Cadets, boarding axe and sea dragon tail for naval Cadets, propeller and sea dragon wing for naval aviation Cadets, propeller and hawk wing for Airman Cadets), a single-edged sword for three ranks of lower-ranked commissioned officers (falchion for Royal Army and Royal Flying Host personnel, cutlass for Royal Navy personnel), a longsword or a ship's wheel for three higher-ranked commissioned officers (longsword for Royal Army and Royal Flying Host personnel, ship's wheel for Royal navy personnel), a mace or an anchor for generals, commodores, admirals and sky marshals (mace for Royal Army and Royal Flying Host personnel, anchor for Royal navy personnel). Only the highest ranks of the army, navy and air force - the Royal General, Admiral of the Royal Fleet and the Royal Sky Marshal - will have a stylised, heraldic Kymrian Royal Crown instead of a heraldic depiction of a historical weapon.
Heraldic animal or heraldic mythical beast body part (rank standing) - these indicate the numerical standing of an indvidual rank in the military, in the same way pips usually do in rank insignia. Instead of pips, the insignia chosen are either dragon paws or hawk feet, depicting a varying number of fingers with claws or fingers with talons. One finger is lower than two fingers, and those are lower than three fingers. For example, the Soldier First Class, Lance Corporal and Corporal all share the aforementioned glaive symbol in the upper part of their insignia, but the dragon paw has a differing number of fingers depending on the exact soldier's rank. Thus, a Soldier FC has a dragon paw showing a single finger, a Lance Corporal has a dragon paw with two fingers, and a Corporal has a dragon paw with two fingers. (Pilots FC, Flight Corporals and Corporal of the Royal Flying Host will have a one-fingered, two-fingered or three-fingered hawk foot instead.) The two highest rank officers of the Kymrian army, navy and air force, the two highest general, admiral and sky marshal ranks, will have a dragon head or a hawk head instead of a dragon paw or a hawk foot.
Colour-coding trimming (service branches of the Kymrian military) - each service of the Royal Armed Forces has their own colour-coded trimming on the standardised rank insignia of the armed forces. The Royal Army has 10 colour codes (for Infantry, Special Forces, Cavalry/Mounted, Artillery, Logistics, Engineering, Signals, Observers, Medical and Royal Bodyguards), the Royal Navy (and Royal Naval Aviation within it) has 4 colour codes (Surface navy, Submarine navy, Naval Aviation, Naval Airship Patrol), and the Royal Flying Host has only 2 colour codes (Aeroplane pilots/Glider flyers, Airshipmen). Colour-coding isn't as important a part of the rank insignia as the more key elements, hence why it's relegated to the trimming of the overall individual insignia. However, it adds depth and a great deal of information about the particular rank with very minimal use of colour differentiation.
In the case of my fictional Kymria, I've taken most of the terminological inspiration from British, Austro-Hungarian and some other central European terminological traditions, and I've tried to make it as consistent as possible. The rank names themselves are conventional, and differ very little from the sort of ranks you'd find in the OTL world during the last ca 200 years. Nota bene, I've done this attention to consistency in multiple languages. The Welsh-sounding one is the main one, but there are also minority languages heard in the forces, and as I've mentioned above, there's even a Kymrian equivalent to "Army Slavic".
On the visual side of things, I've largelly gone for an original approach. No stars or pips, and only the three topmost ranks of the main branches have a royal crown. The insignia is instead rooted in subtle but logical colour-coding and in a system of symbolic insignia largelly unique to Kymria and its national vexilology/heraldry.
There's not a mess of unique names for nearly every service branch's ranks, unlike in both real British tradition or Austro-Hungarian tradition. As you can see, they do have a system to specify which soldier comes from which branch, but unless there's a good reason to mention it, it's not added to the rank name as standard. Thus, everyone just goes by the standard army, navy and air force rank they have (see below, the overviews for each of the three services).
For example, you can have three sergeants of the army, navy and air force meeting, and neither of them will have a convoluted long name for their rank. They'll just be sergeants. Yes, even the navy has sergeants, because the Kymrian navy has a different tradition than a real world British or other anglophone one, and not quite an A-H one either. It's an industrial fantasy country, so I'm being creative, within reasonable limits, and not keeping things to some strict OTL template.
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Royal Army of Kymria (Byddin Frenhinol o Kymra)
View attachment 841953
Private - No insignia
Private First Class - Glaive, one dragon claw
Lance Corporal - Glaive, two dragon claws
Corporal - Glaive, three dragon claws
Sergeant - Bow and arrow, one dragon claw
Master-Sergeant - Bow and arrow, two dragon claws
Cadet - Bow and arrow, three dragon claws
Ensign - Axe, dragon wing
Lieutenant - Falchion, one dragon claw
First Lieutenant - Falchion, two dragon claws
Captain - Falchion, three dragon claws
Major - Sword, one dragon claw
Lieutenant Colonel - Sword, two dragon claws
Colonel - Sword, three dragon claws
Brigadier general - Mace, one dragon claw
Major General - Mace, two dragon claws
Lieutenant General - Mace, three dragon claws
General - Mace, dragon head
Royal General - Crown, dragon head
The rank insignia of Royal Army personnel ha light green trimming (infantry), light green trimming with camo light brown dots (skirmishers, special forces), dark green trimming (cavalry, mounted soldiers and early motorised-armoured vehicles), red trimming (artillery), light brown trimming (logistics), dark brown trimming (engineers and sappers), golden trimming with orange line (signals corps), salmon pink trimming (observers), white trimming (medical corps), alternating golden-light green-golden-dark green trimming (Royal Bodyguard units).
The higher ranks of the cavalry use sabres instead of swords as their rank insignia (for Major, Lieutenant Colonel and Colonel). The lower ranks of the Royal Bodyguard units use halberds instead of glaives as their rank insignia (for Private First Class, Lance Corporal and Corporal).
The only permanent aerial units of the Royal Army of Kymria are observation balloon spotters and crews, all formally under the observers corps. All of the airship, aeroplane and glider military units of the army had been moved to more recently established Royal Flying Host. The naval aviation of Kymria is part of the Royal Navy of Kymria.
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Royal Navy of Kymria (Llynges Brenhinol o Kymra) and Royal Naval Aviation of Kymria (Hedfan Llyngesol Brenhinol o Kymra)
View attachment 841799
Seaman / Aviator - No insignia
Seaman First Class / Aviator First Class - Boarding pike, one sea dragon claw
Pike Seaman / Spindrift Aviator - Boarding pike, two sea dragon claws
Leading Seaman / Leading Aviator - Boarding pike, three sea dragon claws
Sergeant - Crossbow, one sea dragon claw
Master-Sergeant - Crossbow, two sea dragon claws
Cadet - Crossbow, three sea dragon claws
Ensign - Boarding axe, sea dragon tail (navy) / sea dragon wing (naval aviation)
Lieutenant - Cutlass, one sea dragon claw
First Lieutenant - Cutlass, two sea dragon claws
Ship captain - Cutlass, three sea dragon claws
Major - Ship's wheel, one sea dragon claw
Lieutenant Colonel - Ship's wheel, two sea dragon claws
Colonel - Ship's wheel, three sea dragon claws
Commodore - Anchor, one sea dragon claw
Rear Admiral - Anchor, two sea dragon claws
Vice Admiral - Anchor, three sea dragon claws
Admiral - Anchor, sea dragon head
Admiral of the Royal Fleet - Crown, sea dragon head
The rank insignia of Royal Navy personnel has dark blue trimming (surface navy personnel) or dark blue trimming with a slightly lighter-blue wave-like pattern (submarine personnel). The rank insignia of Royal Naval Aviation personnel has dark blue trimming with light blue line (naval aviators) or dark blue trimming with light blue line and stylised light blue airship shapes (naval airshipmen).
Equivalent rank listing (English term listed on the left, Kymrese term on the right):
Seaman (eq. of Soldier) - Morwr ("Seaman")
Aviator (eq. Soldier) - Awyrennwr ("Aviator")
Seaman First Class (eq. of Soldier First Class) - Morwr Dosbarth Cyntaf ("Seaman First Class")
Aviator First Class (eq. of Soldier First Class) - Awyrennwr Dosbarth Cyntaf ("Aviator First Class")
Pike Seaman (eq. of Lance Corporal) - Morwr Penhwyaid ("Pike Seaman")
Spindrift Aviator (eq. of Lance Corporal) - Awyrennwr Troellwr ("Spindrift Aviator")
Leading Seaman (eq. of Corporal) - Morwr Blaenllaw ("Leading Seaman")
Leading Aviator (eq. of Corporal) - Awyrennwr Blaenllaw ("Leading Aviator")
(ranks same as in the Royal Army of Kymria)
Ship captain (eq. of Captain) - Capten Llong ("Ship captain")
(ranks same as in the Royal Army of Kymria)
Commodore (eq. of Brigadier general) - Comodor ("Commodore")
Rear Admiral (eq. of Major General) - Cefn Llyngesydd ("Rear Admiral")
Vice Admiral (eq. of Lieutenant General) - Is-lyngesydd ("Vice Admiral")
Admiral (eq. of General) - Llyngesydd ("Admiral")
Admiral of the Royal Fleet (eq. of Royal General) - Llyngesydd y Llynges Frenhinol ("Admiral of the Royal Fleet")
The Kymrian navy does not use Petty Officer in its naval rank terminology (that tradition occurs in the navy of Victinya instead). The fictional rank of "Pike Seaman" is the direct equivalent to the real world Lance Corporal rank, which also exists in Kymria's Royal Army and Royal Flying Host. Just like the Lance Coporal symbolically "broke a lance in combat", so too is the "Pike Seaman" symbolically denoted as a seaman who "broke a boarding pike in naval combat". The ranks of naval aviators who fly naval aviation aeroplanes (flying boats, floatplanes) do not go above the rank of Colonel, because it's expected naval aviation commodores serve on naval aviation airships or command seaplane tenders.
The reason the Kymrian navy doesn't have a fully British-style or fully Austro-Hungarian style rank terminology tradition is because Kymria is a fictional country, and because the country of Victinya in the same setting already has British-style and American-style ranks terminology, including in the Victinyan navy. To keep things more unique and avoid confusing people, I wanted the rank terminology of the Kymrian Royal Armed Forces, including the Royal Navy, as well as the Royal Army and Royal Flying Host, to sound distinct from the rank terminology used in Victinya for their armed forces.
Some of the graphical elements in the navy ranks overview still need some touching up and I'll get to it soon. Please don't complain if you notice graphical artefacts. They'll be dealt with, I assure you.
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Royal Flying Host of Kymria (Llu Hedfan Brenhinol o Kymra)
View attachment 841798
Pilot / Flyer - No insignia
Pilot First Class / Flyer First Class - Glaive, one hawk talon
Flight Corporal - Glaive, two hawk talons
Corporal - Glaive, three hawk talons
Sergeant - Bow and arrow, one hawk talon
Master-Sergeant - Bow and arrow, two hawk talons
Airman Cadet - Bow and arrow, three hawk talons
Ensign - Propeller, hawk wing
Lieutenant - Falchion, one hawk talon
First Lieutenant - Falchion, two hawk talons
Captain - Falchion, three hawk talons
Major - Sword, one hawk talon
Wing Commander - Sword, two hawk talons
Air Commander - Sword, three hawk talons
Sky Commodore - Mace, one hawk talon
Sky Vice-Marshal - Mace, two hawk talons
Sky Marshal - Mace, three hawk talons
Chief Sky Marshal - Mace, hawk head
Royal Sky Marshal - Crown, hawk head
The rank insignia of Royal Flying Host personnel has light blue trimming (aeroplane and glider airmen and personnel) or light blue trimming with stylised white airship shapes (airshipmen and airship personnel).
Equivalent rank listing (English term listed on the left, Kymrese term on the right):
Pilot (eq. of Soldier) - Peilot ("Pilot")
Flyer (eq. Soldier) - Hedfanwr ("Flyer")
Pilot First Class (eq. of Soldier First Class) - Peilot Dosbarth Cyntaf ("Pilot First Class")
Flyer First Class (eq. of Soldier First Class) - Hedfanwr Dosbarth Cyntaf ("Flyer First Class")
Flight Corporal (eq. of Lance Corporal) - Corporal Hedfan ("Flight Corporal" / "Flying Corporal")
(ranks same as in the Royal Army of Kymria)
Airman Cadet (eq. of Cadet) - Cadet Awyrwr ("Airman Cadet")
(ranks same as in the Royal Army of Kymria)
Wing Commander (eq. of Lieutenant Colonel) - Cadlywydd Asgell ("Wing Commander")
Air Commander (eq. of Colonel) - Cadlywydd Awyr ("Air Commander")
Sky Commodore (eq. of Brigadier General) - Comodor Awyr ("Sky Commodore")
Sky Vice-Marshal (eq. of Major General) - Is-farsial Awyr ("Sky Vice-Marshal")
Sky Marshal (eq. of Lieutenant General) - Marsial Awyr ("Sky Marshal")
Chief Sky Marshal (eq. of General) - Prif Farsial Awyr ("Chief Sky Marshal")
Royal Sky Marshal (eq. of Royal General) - Marsial Awyr Brenhinol ("Royal Sky Marshal")
The "Pilot" and "Flyer" ranks are not only equal in standing, they are also largelly just semantic and symbolic, per the aviation traditions of not only Kymria, but the countries of the Aeroverse in general. "Pilot" refers to an airman flying an aeroplane (always a powered aircraft, one with a proper fuselage and cockpit where the pilot can be seated), while "flyer" refers to an airman flying a glider (aside from the earliest sailplanes, essentially always solo, rarely seated at all, more in the manner of a hand glider).
Real world Welsh might have words for "the heavens", "heaven", "the highs", but doesn't seem to differentiate between "sky" and "air". I was tempted to change the "sky" instances of awyr ("air", "sky") to cwmwl ("cloud"), but ultimately decided against it. However, if you personally prefer the cwmwl variation and find it more interesting, I am fine with that.
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I am also thinking of going back to some of my Sparrow Avengers countries and doing ranks for them as well. Should be fun.
The Zugsführer as an Austro-Hungarian or modern Austrian rank is a Corporal or Master-Corporal and the Korporal is just a Lance Corporal because this was the actual hierarchy used in the Austro-Hungarian army. The Hungarian language equivalents - szakaszvezető means Zugsführer, tizedes means a Korporal - are still used even in the modern Hungarian armed forces.Three things:
1. I would suggest switching Korporal and Zugführer around. Zugführer may usually be superior to Korporal but that is asking for confusion between a German speaking Korporal and a Kymrese Corporal, despite the latter being superior by one rank. (Another option is going from Lance Corporal - Corporal system to Corporal - Senior/Chief Corporal system)
This is the idea with Kymria. I intentionally avoided moving the standing of the rank upwards or downwards. if you're interested in a more British sytem, once I might do the ranks for Victinya from the same setting, those ranks are going to be far more British in style, right down to the names and positions. (Also, in their air force, Victinya uses "air marshal" rather than Kymria's "sky marshal". Part of why I gave Kymria's ranks a slight British undertone, but without going fully British in style.)2. Naval Captains/Ship Captains are equilavent of Army/Air Force Colonels. Use of the same term is fine (some languages do call their Naval Captains by their term for Colonel and have their equivalent for captain stay the same (thought I am not aware of any European language (other than Turkish if you count it) where this is the case.
I know there's several levels to it. In the case of the Kymrian navy, the idea is that the captain is just a captain, and the colonels above him command some of the more capital ships of the navy, whereas the commodores and admirals have the command of fleets of various size.Anyway, the point is you can certainly call the Naval ranks equal to Army Captains and Colonels Captains and Colonels but then the Captain probably shouldn't be specified as ship captain as that would not be the case (Naval equilavent of an Army Captain is 1st Lieutenant/Lieutenant Senior Grade/Leutnant zur See/Linienschiffsleutnant, these officer might command only the smallest of ships like PT boats. There are three ranks above them to command most warships (Lieutenant Commander, Commander and Captain in the English scheme; Corvette, Frigate and Ship of the Line Captains (or Captains at Sea) for most of Continental Europe).
Thing is, many of the Germanic languages' term for a "skirmisher" (in the 17th to 19th century sense, i.e. not line infantry soldier, but in recon, sharpshooting, ambushes, sabotage, etc.) or "ranger" soldier (in the 20th century sense, often an army paratrooper or other reconnaissance infantry with special training) was and is "hunter", e.g. Jäger in German, Jaeger in Swedish, etc. It was a reference to the fact these soldiers originated as skirmishers doing ambushes or other non-line-infantry raids and attacks on enemy forces, "hunting" them. Some of the earliest skirmishers in standing armies even had a hunter-sharpshooter background, so it wasn't all that surprising the nickname/term emerged from that. I have added a secondary translation to the "German" variation of the term in the fictional ranks, so it's translated as "Soldier-Hunter" or "Soldier-Skirmisher", since both are directly synonymous.3. Jäger also translates as hunter. So perhaps that should be a Soldier-Hunter like Hungarian as well, rather than Soldier-Skirmisher.
Thank you. I tried to put as much thought into it as I could, with the cultural context (and storytelling context) of my fictional country in mind.Otherwise I do really like the rank insignia however.
The Zugsführer is an Austro-Hungarian or modern Austrian rank is a Corporal or Master-Corporal and the Korporal is just a Lance Corporal because this was the actual hierarchy used in the Austro-Hungarian army. The Hungarian language equivalents - szakaszvezető means Zugsführer, tizedes means a Korporal - are still used even in the modern Hungarian armed forces.
Part of the confusion, aside from different traditions of OTL past and present armies, might stem from the etymologies. In Hungarian, you had and still have the strictly logical, numerical approach to naming some NCO and officer ranks. Tizedes ("tenth-soldier") was a corporal, Százados ("hundred-soldier") a captain/Hauptmann style officer, Ezredes ("thousand-soldier") an officer at the level of a colonel. Some Slavic languages might have been influenced by this or created their own analogous terms. Desiatnik, desátník, etc. ("tenth-soldier") still mean corporal, while satnik, sotnik, or the archaic in some languages stotník (sto, "hundred-soldier") meant captain, Hauptmann, headman/hetman. Where the archaic terms didn't survive, they go straightforwardly with captain. The Slavic use of the term plukovník, polkovnik, pukovnik, etc., etc., for colonel was instead derived from the pluk, polk, etc. term, used for military units around the size of a regiment, later used as a direct synonym for a regiment in the modern sense.
This is the idea with Kymria. I intentionally avoided moving the standing of the rank upwards or downwards. if you're interested in a more British sytem, once I might do the ranks for Victinya from the same setting, those ranks are going to be far more British in style, right down to the names and positions. (Also, in their air force, Victinya uses "air marshal" rather than Kymria's "sky marshal". Part of why I gave Kymria's ranks a slight British undertone, but without going fully British in style.)
I know there's several levels to it. In the case of the Kymrian navy, the idea is that the captain is just a captain, and the colonels above him command some of the more capital ships of the navy, whereas the commodores and admirals have the command of fleets of various size.
The "captain" rank of the Kymrian navy does not command the largest capital ships of the fleet, or even flagship. At most, a Kymrian naval captain will command individual mid-sized ships of the navy, neither the smallest nor the biggest ones, and not large groups of ships.
I am also thinking of renaming it back to just "captain", because the ranks also have to account for naval aviation and it doesn't make much sense to call a seaplane crew member of a captain rank a "ship captain". A "ship captain" only makes sense for a ship or a naval airship.
Thing is, many of the Germanic languages' term for a "skirmisher" (in the 17th to 19th century sense, i.e. not line infantry soldier, but in recon, sharpshooting, ambush sabotage, etc.) or "ranger" soldier (in the 20th century sense, often an army paratrooper or other reconnaissance infantry with special training) was and is "hunter", e.g. Jäger in German, Jaeger in Swedish, etc. It was a reference to the fact these soldiers originated as skirmishers doing ambushes or other non-line-infantry raids and attacks on enemy forces, "hunting" them. Some of the earliest skirmishers in stading armies even had a hunter-sharpshooter background, so it wasn't all that surprising the nickname/term emerged from that. I have added a secondary translation to the "German" variation of the term in the fictional ranks, so it's translated as "Soldier-Hunter" or "Soldier-Skirmisher", since both are directly synonymous.
Aeroverse - Kymrian military rank insignia
The rank insignia for the armed forces of the Kingdom of Kymria. A monarchy geographically, culturally and historically inspired by Austria-Hungary and Wales, from my fictional setting, the Aeroverse. The Kymrian military consists of the Royal Army of Kymria (Byddin Frenhinol o Kymra), the Royal Navy of Kymria (Llynges Brenhinol o Kymra), which includes the Royal Naval Aviation of Kymria, and the Royal Flying Host of Kymria (Llu Hedfan Brenhinol o Kymra). Like other countries in the Aeroverse, the Kymrian military is at a roughly 1910 to 1920 level of technology.
Real world English term Kymrese
(real world Welsh)Minority language 1
(real world German)Minority language 2
(real world Hungarian)Minority language 3
(real world Slovak)Minority language 4
(real world Czech)Minority language 5
(real world Croatian)Private Milwr Soldat Közkatona Vojak Vojín Vojnik Private First Class Milwr Dosbarth Cyntaf Gefreiter Őrvezető Vojak vyššej hodnosti Vojín vyšší hodnosti Pozornik Non-commissioned officers Lance Corporal Is-Corporal Korporal Tizedes Slobodník Slobodník Skupnik Corporal Corporal Zugsführer Szakaszvezető Desiatnik Desítník Desetnik Sergeant Rhingyll Wachtmeister Őrmester Čatár Četař Narednik Master-Sergeant Rhingyll Staff Stabswachtmeister Törzsőrmester Rotný Rotný Nadnarednik Officers in training Cadet Cadet Kadett Kadet Kadet Kadet Kadet Ensign Bannerwr Fähnrich Zászlós Práporčík Praporčík Zastavnik Commissioned Officers Lieutenant Lifftenant Leutnant Hadnagy Poručík Poručík Poručnik First Lieutenant Lifftenant Uchel Oberleutnant Főhadnagy Nadporučík Nadporučík Nadporučnik Captain Capten Hauptmann (land) /
Rittmeister (cavalry) / Kapitän (sea)Százados (land) /
Kapitány (sea)Kapitán
(archaically Stotník
in the land army)Kapitán
(archaically Stotník
in the land army)Satnik (land) /
Kapetan (sea)Major Huwch-Gapten Major Őrnagy Major Major Bojnik Lieutenant Colonel Raglaw Gyrnol Oberstleutnant Alezredes Podplukovník Podplukovník Potpukovnik Colonel Cyrnol Oberst Ezredes Plukovník Plukovník Pukovnik Generals Brigadier general Brigadydd Gadfridog Brigadegeneral Dandártábornok Brigádny generál Brigádní generál Brigadni general Major General Prif Gadfridog Generalmajor Vezérőrnagy Generálmajor Generálmajor General bojnik Lieutenant General Is-Gadfridog Generalleutnant Altábornagy Generálporučík Generálporučík General poručnik General Cadfridog General Vezérezredes Generálplukovník / Generál Generálplukovník / Generál General pukovnik Royal General Cadfridog Brenhinol Königlicher General Tábornagy /
Királyi tábornagyKráľovský generál Královský generál Kraljevski general
a.) Languages used in the Kymrian military
Kymrese (the Kymrian language) is the main communication language of the royal Kymrian armed forces. There is also a fictional equivalent to the real world "Army Slavic", something of an impromptu constructed language, used as a sort of soldier creole or soldier jargon for basic communication.
b.) Specifying full ranks in the Kymrian military (only for bureaucratic use, not everyday use or field use)
The Kymrian approach to specifying ranks is to hyphenate them in the individual languages. The lowest rank, soldier, as an example:
- Kymrese: Milwr-Troedfilwyr ("Soldier-Infantryman"), Milwr-Coediwr ("Soldier-Woodsman", older version Milwr-Ysgarmeswr, "Soldier-Skirmisher"), Milwr-Dragŵn, Milwr-Dragwner ("Soldier-Dragoon"), Milwr-Gwaywr ("Soldier-Lancer"), Milwr-Hwsâr ("Soldier-Hussar"), Milwr-Magnelwr ("Soldier-Artilleryman"), Milwr-Cloddiwr ("Soldier-Engineer"/"Soldier-Sapper"), Milwr-Gyrrwr ("Soldier-Driver"), Milwr-Trehnmann ("Soldier-Supply-trainist"), Milwr-Medygg ("Soldier-Medic")
- Minority language 1: Soldat-Infanterist ("Soldier-Infantryman"), Soldat-Jäger ("Soldier-Skirmisher"/"Soldier-Hunter"), Soldat-Dragoner ("Soldier-Dragoon"), Soldat-Ulan ("Soldier-Lancer"), Soldat-Husar ("Soldier-Hussar"), Soldat-Kanonier ("Soldier-Artilleryman"), Soldat-Pionir ("Soldier-Engineer"/"Soldier-Pioneer/Sapper"), Soldat-Fahrer ("Soldier-Driver"), Soldat-Trehnmann ("Soldier-Supply-trainist"), Soldat-Sanitäter ("Soldier-Medic")
- Minority language 2: Közkatona-Gyalogos ("Soldier-Infantryman"), Közkatona-Vadász ("Soldier-Hunter"), Közkatona-Dragonyos ("Soldier-Dragoon"), Közkatona-Ulánus ("Soldier-Lancer"), Közkatona-Huszár ("Soldier-Hussar"), Közkatona-Tüzér ("Soldier-Artilleryman"), Közkatona-Árkász ("Soldier-Engineer"/"Soldier-Sapper"), Közkatona-Vezető ("Soldier-Driver"), Közkatona-Trénos ("Soldier-Supply-trainist"), Közkatona-Medikus ("Soldier-Medic")
- Minority language 3: Vojak-Pešiak ("Soldier-Infantryman"), Vojak-Zálesák ("Soldier-Woodsman"), Vojak-Dragún ("Soldier-Dragoon"), Vojak-Ulán ("Soldier-Lancer"), Vojak-Husár ("Soldier-Hussar"), Vojak-Delostrelec ("Soldier-Artilleryman"), Vojak-Ženista ("Soldier-Engineer"/"Soldier-Sapper"), Vojak-Vodič ("Soldier-Driver"), Vojak-Trénnik ("Soldier-Supply-trainist"), Vojak-Zdravotník ("Soldier-Medic")
- Minority language 4: Vojín-Pěšák ("Soldier-Infantryman"), Vojín-Zálesák ("Soldier-Woodsman"), Vojín-Dragoun ("Soldier-Dragoon"), Vojín-Hulán ("Soldier-Lancer"), Vojín-Husar ("Soldier-Hussar"), Vojín-Dělostrelec ("Soldier-Artilleryman"), Vojín-Ženista ("Soldier-Engineer"/"Soldier-Sapper"), Vojín-Vodič ("Soldier-Driver"), Vojín-Trénník ("Soldier-Supply-trainist"), Vojín-Zdravotník ("Soldier-Medic")
This makes it easier to denote which soldier is in which branch of the armed forces, without having to remember a unique rank name for every branch of the forces. The three cavalry soldier branches are also called collectivelly Marchogwr ("cavalryman", "horseman") and can sometimes be given with that variation in the first half of the hyphenated term (e.g. Marchogwr-Dragŵn, Marchogwr-Gwaywr, Marchogwr-Hwsâr). The minority languages can substitute this with their own terms Reiter, Lovas and Jazdec. The only cavalry variation on the rank of Captain in a minority language occurs with Rittmeister.
Historical examples of occassional Kymrian use of rank hyphenation
In the past of the Kymrian royal army (ca a century and more earlier), what became the Milwr-Troedfilwyr was originally two different ranks, depending on whether the footman was a Musketeer or a Rifleman, he was likely to get called a Milwr-Mysgedwr or a Milwr-Reifflwr, respectivelly. Some of the royal riflemen, trained as sharpshooters (including with the innovative repeating "wind-rifle" of the Kymrians, updated versions still popular among sky pirates) were called Milwr-Coediwr ("Soldier-Woodsman"), later changed to Milwr-Ysgarmeswr ("Soldier-Skirmisher"), but then reverted back to Milwr-Coediwr ("Soldier-Woodsman").
c.) Other rank terminology naming conventions in the Kymrian military and related notes
The equivalent to a real world Marshal rank in the Kymrian military is the Royal General, the head general of the entire Royal Army. The only official usage of the term "marshal" in the Kymrian military are the "sky marshals" of the Royal Flying Host. The Royal Navy has the most divergent terminology for its individual ranks (most soldier and NCO ranks, most of the highest ranks), whereas the individual ranks in the Royal Army and the Royal Flying Host are fairly similar to each other (the biggest difference being the lowest soldier rank and the highest ranks, the latter replacing "general" ranks with "sky marshal" ranks).
Do note that Kymria itself does not actually use real world English terminology, whether UK, US, Canadian, Australian or any other anglophone country designations for the individual ranks. Kymria does not speak English at all, save for people who know foreign languages. Their most used names for the individual ranks are in what appears to us as real world Welsh.
d.) Heraldic weapons, heraldic animals or mythical creatures and colour-coding in Kingdom of Kymria rank insignia
The rank insignia of the Royal Armed Forces of Kymria uses a simple, but fairly deep system of "heraldic-coding" and colour-coding that's designed to be as intuitive and easy to remember as possible, and make it impossible to unintentionally confuse ranks, even by a layperson. Famously, the insignia is designed to work completely without any letters or numbers as indicators, and work according to a logic similar to that used in the "keep it simple" logic of designing coats of arms and other heraldry.
As in the real world, the lowest-ranking soldiers, i.e. privates/seamen/aviators/pilots, do not have their own rank insignia. From the second soldier level onward, regardless of service, they get a set of rank insignia that gradually increases in importance, varying its overall level based on alternating "trios" of symbols.
Heraldic weapons (soldier-officer rank scale) - located in the upper part of the rank insignia, a heraldic depiction of a historical weapon. The lowest three ranks have polearms as their insignia (glaives for Royal Army and Royal Flying Host personnel, halberds for Royal Bodyguards, boarding pikes for Royal Navy personnel), the three continued NCO ranks after that have archery weapons (a bow and arrow for Royal Army and Flying Host personnel, a crossbow for Royal Navy personnel), the Ensign equivalent has an impact weapon or propeller and an animal or dragon body part other than a paw or foot (one-handed battleaxe for army Cadets, boarding axe and sea dragon tail for naval Cadets, propeller and sea dragon wing for naval aviation Cadets, propeller and hawk wing for Airman Cadets), a single-edged sword for three ranks of lower-ranked commissioned officers (falchion for Royal Army and Royal Flying Host personnel, cutlass for Royal Navy personnel), a longsword or a ship's wheel for three higher-ranked commissioned officers (longsword for Royal Army and Royal Flying Host personnel, ship's wheel for Royal navy personnel), a mace or an anchor for generals, commodores, admirals and sky marshals (mace for Royal Army and Royal Flying Host personnel, anchor for Royal navy personnel). Only the highest ranks of the army, navy and air force - the Royal General, Admiral of the Royal Fleet and the Royal Sky Marshal - will have a stylised, heraldic Kymrian Royal Crown instead of a heraldic depiction of a historical weapon.
Heraldic animal or heraldic mythical beast body part (rank standing) - these indicate the numerical standing of an indvidual rank in the military, in the same way pips usually do in rank insignia. Instead of pips, the insignia chosen are either dragon paws or hawk feet, depicting a varying number of fingers with claws or fingers with talons. One finger is lower than two fingers, and those are lower than three fingers. For example, the Soldier First Class, Lance Corporal and Corporal all share the aforementioned glaive symbol in the upper part of their insignia, but the dragon paw has a differing number of fingers depending on the exact soldier's rank. Thus, a Soldier FC has a dragon paw showing a single finger, a Lance Corporal has a dragon paw with two fingers, and a Corporal has a dragon paw with two fingers. (Pilots FC, Flight Corporals and Corporal of the Royal Flying Host will have a one-fingered, two-fingered or three-fingered hawk foot instead.) The two highest rank officers of the Kymrian army, navy and air force, the two highest general, admiral and sky marshal ranks, will have a dragon head or a hawk head instead of a dragon paw or a hawk foot.
Colour-coding trimming (service branches of the Kymrian military) - each service of the Royal Armed Forces has their own colour-coded trimming on the standardised rank insignia of the armed forces. The Royal Army has 10 colour codes (for Infantry, Special Forces, Cavalry/Mounted, Artillery, Logistics, Engineering, Signals, Observers, Medical and Royal Bodyguards), the Royal Navy (and Royal Naval Aviation within it) has 4 colour codes (Surface navy, Submarine navy, Naval Aviation, Naval Airship Patrol), and the Royal Flying Host has only 2 colour codes (Aeroplane pilots/Glider flyers, Airshipmen). Colour-coding isn't as important a part of the rank insignia as the more key elements, hence why it's relegated to the trimming of the overall individual insignia. However, it adds depth and a great deal of information about the particular rank with very minimal use of colour differentiation.
In the case of my fictional Kymria, I've taken most of the terminological inspiration from British, Austro-Hungarian and some other central European terminological traditions, and I've tried to make it as consistent as possible. The rank names themselves are conventional, and differ very little from the sort of ranks you'd find in the OTL world during the last ca 200 years. Nota bene, I've done this attention to consistency in multiple languages. The Welsh-sounding one is the main one, but there are also minority languages heard in the forces, and as I've mentioned above, there's even a Kymrian equivalent to "Army Slavic".
On the visual side of things, I've largelly gone for an original approach. No stars or pips, and only the three topmost ranks of the main branches have a royal crown. The insignia is instead rooted in subtle but logical colour-coding and in a system of symbolic insignia largelly unique to Kymria and its national vexilology/heraldry.
There's not a mess of unique names for nearly every service branch's ranks, unlike in both real British tradition or Austro-Hungarian tradition. As you can see, they do have a system to specify which soldier comes from which branch, but unless there's a good reason to mention it, it's not added to the rank name as standard. Thus, everyone just goes by the standard army, navy and air force rank they have (see below, the overviews for each of the three services).
For example, you can have three sergeants of the army, navy and air force meeting, and neither of them will have a convoluted long name for their rank. They'll just be sergeants. Yes, even the navy has sergeants, because the Kymrian navy has a different tradition than a real world British or other anglophone one, and not quite an A-H one either. It's an industrial fantasy country, so I'm being creative, within reasonable limits, and not keeping things to some strict OTL template.
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Royal Army of Kymria (Byddin Frenhinol o Kymra)
View attachment 841953
Private - No insignia
Private First Class - Glaive, one dragon claw
Lance Corporal - Glaive, two dragon claws
Corporal - Glaive, three dragon claws
Sergeant - Bow and arrow, one dragon claw
Master-Sergeant - Bow and arrow, two dragon claws
Cadet - Bow and arrow, three dragon claws
Ensign - Axe, dragon wing (most ensign posts) / Axe, dragon tail (certain ensign posts)
Lieutenant - Falchion, one dragon claw
First Lieutenant - Falchion, two dragon claws
Captain - Falchion, three dragon claws
Major - Sword, one dragon claw
Lieutenant Colonel - Sword, two dragon claws
Colonel - Sword, three dragon claws
Brigadier general - Mace, one dragon claw
Major General - Mace, two dragon claws
Lieutenant General - Mace, three dragon claws
General - Mace, dragon head
Royal General - Crown, dragon head
The rank insignia of Royal Army personnel ha light green trimming (infantry), light green trimming with camo light brown dots (skirmishers, special forces), dark green trimming (cavalry, mounted soldiers and early motorised-armoured vehicles), red trimming (artillery), light brown trimming (logistics), dark brown trimming (engineers and sappers), golden trimming with orange line (signals corps), salmon pink trimming (observers), white trimming (medical corps), alternating golden-light green-golden-dark green trimming (Royal Bodyguard units).
The higher ranks of the cavalry use sabres instead of swords as their rank insignia (for Major, Lieutenant Colonel and Colonel). The lower ranks of the Royal Bodyguard units use halberds instead of glaives as their rank insignia (for Private First Class, Lance Corporal and Corporal).
The only permanent aerial units of the Royal Army of Kymria are observation balloon spotters and crews, all formally under the observers corps. All of the airship, aeroplane and glider military units of the army had been moved to more recently established Royal Flying Host. The naval aviation of Kymria is part of the Royal Navy of Kymria.
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Royal Navy of Kymria (Llynges Brenhinol o Kymra) and Royal Naval Aviation of Kymria (Hedfan Llyngesol Brenhinol o Kymra)
View attachment 841799
Seaman / Aviator - No insignia
Seaman First Class / Aviator First Class - Boarding pike, one sea dragon claw
Pike Seaman / Spindrift Aviator - Boarding pike, two sea dragon claws
Leading Seaman / Leading Aviator - Boarding pike, three sea dragon claws
Sergeant - Crossbow, one sea dragon claw
Master-Sergeant - Crossbow, two sea dragon claws
Cadet - Crossbow, three sea dragon claws
Ensign - Boarding axe, sea dragon tail (navy) / Propeller, sea dragon wing (naval aviation)
Lieutenant - Cutlass, one sea dragon claw
First Lieutenant - Cutlass, two sea dragon claws
Ship captain - Cutlass, three sea dragon claws
Major - Ship's wheel, one sea dragon claw
Lieutenant Colonel - Ship's wheel, two sea dragon claws
Colonel - Ship's wheel, three sea dragon claws
Commodore - Anchor, one sea dragon claw
Rear Admiral - Anchor, two sea dragon claws
Vice Admiral - Anchor, three sea dragon claws
Admiral - Anchor, sea dragon head
Admiral of the Royal Fleet - Crown, sea dragon head
The rank insignia of Royal Navy personnel has dark blue trimming (surface navy personnel) or dark blue trimming with a slightly lighter-blue wave-like pattern (submarine personnel). The rank insignia of Royal Naval Aviation personnel has dark blue trimming with light blue line (naval aviators) or dark blue trimming with light blue line and stylised light blue airship shapes (naval airshipmen).
Equivalent rank listing (English term listed on the left, Kymrese term on the right):
Seaman (eq. of Soldier) - Morwr ("Seaman")
Aviator (eq. Soldier) - Awyrennwr ("Aviator")
Seaman First Class (eq. of Soldier First Class) - Morwr Dosbarth Cyntaf ("Seaman First Class")
Aviator First Class (eq. of Soldier First Class) - Awyrennwr Dosbarth Cyntaf ("Aviator First Class")
Pike Seaman (eq. of Lance Corporal) - Morwr Penhwyaid ("Pike Seaman")
Spindrift Aviator (eq. of Lance Corporal) - Awyrennwr Troellwr ("Spindrift Aviator")
Leading Seaman (eq. of Corporal) - Morwr Blaenllaw ("Leading Seaman")
Leading Aviator (eq. of Corporal) - Awyrennwr Blaenllaw ("Leading Aviator")
(ranks same as in the Royal Army of Kymria)
Ship captain (eq. of Captain) - Capten Llong ("Ship captain")
(ranks same as in the Royal Army of Kymria)
Commodore (eq. of Brigadier general) - Comodor ("Commodore")
Rear Admiral (eq. of Major General) - Cefn Llyngesydd ("Rear Admiral")
Vice Admiral (eq. of Lieutenant General) - Is-lyngesydd ("Vice Admiral")
Admiral (eq. of General) - Llyngesydd ("Admiral")
Admiral of the Royal Fleet (eq. of Royal General) - Llyngesydd y Llynges Frenhinol ("Admiral of the Royal Fleet")
The Kymrian navy does not use Petty Officer in its naval rank terminology (that tradition occurs in the navy of Victinya instead). The fictional rank of "Pike Seaman" is the direct equivalent to the real world Lance Corporal rank, which also exists in Kymria's Royal Army and Royal Flying Host. Just like the Lance Coporal symbolically "broke a lance in combat", so too is the "Pike Seaman" symbolically denoted as a seaman who "broke a boarding pike in naval combat". The ranks of naval aviators who fly naval aviation aeroplanes (flying boats, floatplanes) do not go above the rank of Colonel, because it's expected naval aviation commodores serve on naval aviation airships or command seaplane tenders.
The reason the Kymrian navy doesn't have a fully British-style or fully Austro-Hungarian style rank terminology tradition is because Kymria is a fictional country, and because the country of Victinya in the same setting already has British-style and American-style ranks terminology, including in the Victinyan navy. To keep things more unique and avoid confusing people, I wanted the rank terminology of the Kymrian Royal Armed Forces, including the Royal Navy, as well as the Royal Army and Royal Flying Host, to sound distinct from the rank terminology used in Victinya for their armed forces.
Some of the graphical elements in the navy ranks overview still need some touching up and I'll get to it soon. Please don't complain if you notice graphical artefacts. They'll be dealt with, I assure you.
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Royal Flying Host of Kymria (Llu Hedfan Brenhinol o Kymra)
View attachment 841798
Pilot / Flyer - No insignia
Pilot First Class / Flyer First Class - Glaive, one hawk talon
Flight Corporal - Glaive, two hawk talons
Corporal - Glaive, three hawk talons
Sergeant - Bow and arrow, one hawk talon
Master-Sergeant - Bow and arrow, two hawk talons
Airman Cadet - Bow and arrow, three hawk talons
Ensign - Propeller, hawk wing (most ensign posts) / Axe, hawk wing (certain ensign posts)
Lieutenant - Falchion, one hawk talon
First Lieutenant - Falchion, two hawk talons
Captain - Falchion, three hawk talons
Major - Sword, one hawk talon
Wing Commander - Sword, two hawk talons
Air Commander - Sword, three hawk talons
Sky Commodore - Mace, one hawk talon
Sky Vice-Marshal - Mace, two hawk talons
Sky Marshal - Mace, three hawk talons
Chief Sky Marshal - Mace, hawk head
Royal Sky Marshal - Crown, hawk head
The rank insignia of Royal Flying Host personnel has light blue trimming (aeroplane and glider airmen and personnel) or light blue trimming with stylised white airship shapes (airshipmen and airship personnel).
Equivalent rank listing (English term listed on the left, Kymrese term on the right):
Pilot (eq. of Soldier) - Peilot ("Pilot")
Flyer (eq. Soldier) - Hedfanwr ("Flyer")
Pilot First Class (eq. of Soldier First Class) - Peilot Dosbarth Cyntaf ("Pilot First Class")
Flyer First Class (eq. of Soldier First Class) - Hedfanwr Dosbarth Cyntaf ("Flyer First Class")
Flight Corporal (eq. of Lance Corporal) - Corporal Hedfan ("Flight Corporal" / "Flying Corporal")
(ranks same as in the Royal Army of Kymria)
Airman Cadet (eq. of Cadet) - Cadet Awyrwr ("Airman Cadet")
(ranks same as in the Royal Army of Kymria)
Wing Commander (eq. of Lieutenant Colonel) - Cadlywydd Asgell ("Wing Commander")
Air Commander (eq. of Colonel) - Cadlywydd Awyr ("Air Commander")
Sky Commodore (eq. of Brigadier General) - Comodor Awyr ("Sky Commodore")
Sky Vice-Marshal (eq. of Major General) - Is-farsial Awyr ("Sky Vice-Marshal")
Sky Marshal (eq. of Lieutenant General) - Marsial Awyr ("Sky Marshal")
Chief Sky Marshal (eq. of General) - Prif Farsial Awyr ("Chief Sky Marshal")
Royal Sky Marshal (eq. of Royal General) - Marsial Awyr Brenhinol ("Royal Sky Marshal")
The "Pilot" and "Flyer" ranks are not only equal in standing, they are also largelly just semantic and symbolic, per the aviation traditions of not only Kymria, but the countries of the Aeroverse in general. "Pilot" refers to an airman flying an aeroplane (always a powered aircraft, one with a proper fuselage and cockpit where the pilot can be seated), while "flyer" refers to an airman flying a glider (aside from the earliest sailplanes, essentially always solo, rarely seated at all, more in the manner of a hand glider).
Real world Welsh might have words for "the heavens", "heaven", "the highs", but doesn't seem to differentiate between "sky" and "air". I was tempted to change the "sky" instances of awyr ("air", "sky") to cwmwl ("cloud"), but ultimately decided against it. However, if you personally prefer the cwmwl variation and find it more interesting, I am fine with that.
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I am also thinking of going back to some of my Sparrow Avengers countries and doing ranks for them as well. Should be fun.
Exactly.My issue is not the position of the rank and equilavency with IRL military. It is Corporal and Korporal sounding the same despite being at different levels.
I suppose that is the case with Army-Navy ranks in English but in this case with both being in the same service the potential for confusion seemed higher (and hell, iirc Anglophone navies like to call Marine/Army Captains that are aboard ships Majors just to avoid the issue).
Precisely.(Then against, suppose I don't have much ground to complain. My Venusian Empire ranks (visible on the previous page of this thread) have some similar issues (Spanish sergeant ranks ended up higher than other languages because they had more Corporal (or Cabo) ranks. Thought I at least avoided French Majors being NCOs by not having that rank in specific but only as Sergeant-Major or Adjudant-Major. Another one is French Contre-Amiral being Commodore level and their Vice-Amiral being Rear/Counter Admiral level. With the Vide Admiral equalivent being Vice-Amiral de Escadrille))
Nice.Turkish has something similar with Sergeant being Onbaşı (Head/Chief of Ten), Captain being Yüzbaşı (Head/Chief of Hundred) and Major being Binbaşı (Head/Chief of Thousand).
(Tümen, the word for Division comes from an older term for 10.000 soldiers).
I need to correct a few cosmetic things in the army and especially navy overviews, so I plan to adjust it anyway. I want to revert the Ship Captain to... erm, Captain... just so it would also easily fit the naval aviation stuff without having to make up completely new ranks. While the seaman/aviator distinctions can work for the lowest ranks, they can quickly become a real mess if I go any higher. So Captain it is...My issue isn't Navy and Army sharing ranks (it is something the modern Turkish Navy does, with the exception of having Admirals instead of Generals) but the fact that a captain (rank) will most likely not be a captain (position).
So I would just use the exact same name. If distinction between services is ever needed Naval or Army could be added before the rank in conversation.
Even if using Kaptäin (or equilavent) instead of Hauptmann (or equilavent) I don't think the Kymrese needs specification in the title. I mean, not like you put ship or naval with sergeants or lieutenants so I don't think the captains need it either.
There's no easy equivalent for the word skirmisher in all of the individual languages used for the rank names.I know that Jäger is essentially Ranger/Skirmisher equilavent but since you put "hunter" in the translation of the Hungarian I think it makes more sense for the German one to be translated the same way as well. Thought I suppose I am being nitpicky since as you say, they are synonymous.
Good observation, but Kymrian monarchs have not led armies in the field for a long, looong time. All of the present day Kymrian monarchs are purely figurehead commander-in-chief-s. In the case of an actual armed conflict involving the country, the king or queen would delegate all actual military responsibilities to the prime minister, the minister of defence, and the Royal General. The only direct military involvement of the monarch would be on a diplomatic level, and in occassional talks with the trio of actual commanders.Unless the Field Marshal stand-in "Royal General" literally is the monarch, I would just suggest to call him the equivalent of "Lord High General" or "Royal Lieutenant-General" to indicate that officer is the General *delegated* by the monarch to lead his / her army rather than the monarch itself.